In Memory

This past Monday, I received a phone call that no one likes to receive. One of my elders and a good friend called me from his son's house to tell me that he went over only to find him dead. He had died a little earlier from a massive heart attact.

Jon has been a good friend and, in many ways, a challenge in the local work here in Ashland. He was 38 years old, married and had a daughter (8) and a son (3). The family (especailly his mother and four sisters) is not doing well. Most of us are still in shock.

In about 45 minutes, it will be my responsibility to present a message at the memorial service. I have been working on this since Monday and am still unsure of what to say and know that I will have trouble getting through this. Shawna and the kids are having a hard time as well.

Cognitively, I know what Romans 8:28 says. I am having a hard time with it right now. Please pray for us and for this family that is hurting.

-J

The Casts are Off

I went to the doctor yesterday and got my casts off. I also got these new braces. The doctor was very pleased with the way my bones healed and my feet are straight.

He told me that I cannot walk for two weeks. Then, in three weeks, I get to start theapy. We had to cancel some that we had scheduled because he does not want me to start quite yet. The doctor does not want me to put any weight on my legs. So, I am still the in the wheelchair but it sure is nice to be able to take a bath or shower.

One other thing: My brother took the picture. Didnt' he do a good job? My Dad did the typing. I told Dad what to type.

-JJT&K

Guys Trip to Chattanooga

Over the last 48 hours (acutally, less), we (Jeremy and J.T.) went on a guy's trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee. There are four major attractions in the area that Shawna told us about from a previous trip she had made. We got to visit them all

We continue to be amazed at how God can make things so beautiful from such simple things. Things like rocks, water, and high views.

The first thing we got to see was Rock City. The major attraction at Rock City is Lover's Leap. It was a cloudy day (and plenty wet) but J.T. is out at the edge of Lover's Leap on the far left. The Enchanted Gardens is a rock garden that you walk through over about an hour. It was gorgeous.
Then, we got to go to the Incline Railway. It is the steapest one in the world with a 72.7% grade at its steapest point. J.T. got a magic trick at the shop there and is ready to show everyone the trick. You see some great views of Chattanooga from here.

Next, we headed underground (260 foot underground, to be exact) in a cave. The highlight of the trip underground was Ruby Falls. There were some great fomations in the cave and the falls is truly one of God's handiworks.

Finally, the Tennessee Aquarium is in Chattanooga. We took the River Journey which highlights the freshwater life and the Ocean Journey highlighting saltwater life. This picture was taken in the Ocean Journey.

Finally, we had to buy souvenirs. J.T., like his Dad, collecs pathces. He got some good additions to his collection.

Jeremy got some for his collection as well.

Shawna collects souvenir spoons. J.T.is all heart and bought some for his mother's collection.

J.T. could definitely buy something for his mother and leave his sister out. His Dad, however, reminds him to love his sister from time to time. He decided to get his sister the same type of thing (in this case, keychains) from every place we went. She is excited about this as it started a good collection for her. And, oh, yea, she now wants me (Jeremy) and Grampy to make her something on which to hang her keychains.

If J.T. had his way about it, he woudl buy something for his grandparents, other family,and all of his friends everywhere he went (remember, he is all heart). Dad's pocketbook, however, cannot afford such. Thus, we chose a group of people to buy for at each attraction we visited (except Rock City where we only bought stuff for immediate family). While we were at the Incline Railway we bought this cool coffee mug and bell for Grampy and G. Jo. It will add to their current collections.

While were were at Ruby Falls, I (J.T.) chose this plaque for my maternal grandpa (Papaw) and this collector's thimball for Mamaw (it adds to her collection). Grampy, this is not to say that you are not the greatest Grandpa. I have the world's greatest Grandpas. Papaw, however, does not have a collection that I know of.

We went to the Tennessee Aquarium and bought these for my cousins. Adam, the stuffed penguin is for you. And Nick, the pen for you projects pictures of the waterlife and a bird we saw.

Also, we bought these dot magnets for aunts and uncles. They will be delivered first seen, first choice.

And I (J.T.) cannot go past a penny press without attempting to use it. Here are some pennies I pressed on this trip. Three are for my sister since she did not get to go to Chatanooga and the other two are for me.

It was a great weekend. Fast times. Great memories. It is great to be a part of the family of N. We hope you all enoy your gifts.

-J&JT

The Gospel Meeting Ends

This past week, on Sunday through Thursday, we had our gospel meeting. This is a picture of the speaker (David) and his wife (Linda). Linda came Sunday and Thursday and had to work the rest of the week. David did a great job and spoke on some good topics. All the lessons were recorded and put on the church website (see the link on the right) We had great attendance and have some follow-up work to do. It was an encouraging week.

One thing that impresses me about this speaker is that he served as an interim preacher for Ashland during the summer of 1969 while he was a student at FHU. He has preached for another congregation in the area at one time since then and maintained a great relationship with Ashland. We are always pleased to have him and he is grateful to be able to come.

We had a baptism this week which, of course, is the greatest news of all (the angels are rejoicing over that!).

-J

Here We Go Again

Kaylee's doctor's appointment got changed to today. So we had yet another x-ray and another cast change, but only half this time. The right side had not slipped so they did not have to change it. They went ahead and changed the left side to make sure there were not any wounds from the cast rubbing. The x-rays showed that they right side was well healed but the left side, not so much. The left side has developed bone but he still wants to give it another week.

Her left side also slipped a little bit. Her doctor calls her 'Hudini.'

We go in next Monday and get the casts off for good. Her new braces are supposed to be ready. Hopefully all will happen according to plan. We then start extensive (three times a week) physical therapy the week after she gets her casts off. Three trips to Memphis a week; A copay every time we go; Raging gas prices; What fun!

We are blessed and appreciate the prayers. We have been preparing for this sequence of events.

-J&S

My Friend Emma

This is a picture of my friend, Emma, and me. Emma and I went shopping with our moms. Bubba and our Dads went to a movie. We went to Target, Dollar Tree, and I fed Emma raisens. I ate lunch with her. I always enjoy spending time with Emma.

-J&K

Good News

On June 14th, I took a 6 hour School Leadership Series test. I got the results today and I passed with a score of 176! Yea!! I am so relieved and excited. This will make me licensed to be a principal when I get ready to do that. My score would license me in every state that I would possibly ever want to work in. What a relief!

-S

A Big Problem in the Cast Journey

Kaylee got her sixth cast on Monday and her seventh cast today. The people in the cast room are probably getting tired of seeing her. By bed time Monday night, her cast had already slipped a little bit and it was even worse by morning. So, we made the phone call to our new best friend, Kaylee's doctor's assistant Chris and told her what was going on. She had to page Kaylee's dr. and he wanted her to come in today and let Chris look at it and change it if needed. Well, by this morning, her cast had slipped so much that her toes were just barely visible on her right leg. So, the whole family made a trip to the doctors office. They were shocked by how much she had slipped in just one day.

So, here we go again. The seventh cast. This one is bent 90 degrees at her knees so maybe we can last one more week. The color choices of black, glow-in-the-dark (white), and hot pink on the bar were her and her father's bright ideas. She has now had every color except for camo, which she would have had if they had pink camo. Hopefully, we can make it without slipping until next Thursday, which is her next appt. If so, she might get it off. Keep praying and reading. Until next time...

-S

Earth or not

My father and I went to see Journey to the Center of the Earth last night and ........................................................IT WAS AWESOME!

-JT

Another Dr. visit, another cast

Kaylee had another drs. appt today, since we now go see her dr. once a week. We knew that her cast had slipped again but we didn't know what her dr. would do. So, they did another x-ray (the x-ray techs now know Kaylee very well) and then took her to a room. Before we got to a room, Kaylee's dr. saw her and asked her how she was. She just shook her head. I told him that he was not going to be happy and now it was his turn to just shake his head. He immediately went back and looked at her x-rays and didn't even put her in a room but sent her straight to the cast room. He wanted another cast put on. There was some good news today. The people that fit her for her braces came and did this while the cast was off so this process could be started since it will take at least two weeks. So, her dr. wants to see her back in 10 days to hopefully take her cast off. We are keeping our fingers crossed. The dr. also reminded us that when she gets the cast off, she will have to have extensive physical therapy, which means 3 trips to Memphis a week instead of just 1. What fun but if it helps, it will all be worth it. Keep your fingers crossed for us and more importantly please pray that she will not slip and will make it this 10 days and then get it off.

Since Kaylee has had almost all the colors of casts, she is now trying different color combinations. I am not sure what to think of them but she does have an imagination. Here is the latest color combination. Hope you enjoy. Have a good day.

-S

Thanks Grampy and Aunt Li

My aunt Li gave me this poster. Thank you! By the way, this thing is humongus. It barely fits in my room. My granfather made the wooden stand for these figures. Thank you, Grampy!

That's all I got folks. Hope you enjoy!

-JT

It's Out of Control

I went to Horizons and found out a way that you will feel better about yourself. At the request of some of my friends at Horizons, I got on facebook Saturday morning and opened up an account. Then, by just today, I have over 90 people who call me 'friend.' I never knew so many poeple would claim me. I feel warm and fuzzy inside. I also feel like sort of a techno nerd!

-J

Awards. Urinals. What else do you want?

As you know, we (J.T. and Jeremy) went to Freed-Hardeman University this past week for Horizons: Future Church Leaders Worshop.We had a great time and thought we would share some pictures of the week with you.

We met some old friends. This is a young lady named Kaitlyn, a member of a family we were good friends with during the days we lived in Henderson. We still have contact 3-4 times a year.


Every year, Horizons has a formal banquet and awards ceremony with a theme. Here is a picture which includes the group that went from Ashland.


The theme this year was 'It's a Jungle in There.' Here is a picture of J.T. with the mascot:


And another picture of J.T. with the lion tamer:


Jeremy has been working with Horizons for five years now and received an award. This is a picture of him receiving the award with one of the assistant dirctors and a great mentor (old college teacher), David.


Jeremy was responsible for four guys during the week (he was their counselor). Here is a picture of them. It was a great group to work with. We had some great discussions. Standing from right to left are Adam, Daniel, Jonathan, and J.T. Squating is Eric.

They are an interesting group and do everything together.

Great week. Great times. Great memories. It is great to be a part of the family of N.

-J&JT

pool time

I know how your probably getting tired of us posting well...... TOO BAD. Anyway from now on J.T. Jordan or Bullaguard is a swimming pool trick master thats right POOL TRICK MASTER here are my tricks

Underwater jet
Jet launch
Aqua flip
Pool bottom touching head
Head 1st touch down

-JT

What are toiletries?

Tonight, J.T. and Jeremy had to leave campus for a few minutes. The conversation beforehand was interesting:

Jeremy: "Son, go get your oatmeal for your bath."

J.T. "Where is it?"

Jeremy: "Mom packed it with your toiletries."

J.T.: "Why do they call them toiletries? Toilets don't grow on trees!"

-J&JT

Look at me!

-S

Is this guy 14 or 16? Neither!

My Dad and I were at a concert at Horizons. My Dad was taking pictures. Suddenly, we spotted a guy in a warrior hat sitting on his friend's shoulders. He looked like he was 14 to 16 years old. My Dad decided to take a picture of it and that's how we got the picture above.

-JT

We're not done yet

Kaylee's dr was out of the office last week so she went to see him today. He did x-rays and said that the left leg is healing very well but the right leg is still not healing as well. He said it keeps wanting to bow out. He wanted to change Kaylee's cast, which we knew he would because the old one had slipped and gotten padded down so it was not tight like it needed to be. He also has to check her fairly often for sores because she has very sensitive skin. The sores on her heels have heeled very well, well enough that they did not cut them out them of her new cast.

So, Kaylee's appt was at 9:00 am. We did not leave the dr's office until 12:15 pm. It takes a long time to cut off and put back on that much cast, especially with the extra padding that her dr wanted done. She changed the color again. This time she got light blue on the left leg and pastel tie-dye on the right leg. They also had to put the bar back and she decided for some reason that she wanted the bar red. This really doesn't match but I think she just wanted to try it. Hey, when you have been through so much, you let her have what she wants with the colors.

It looks like it will be at least 2-4 more weeks. Her dr might take the left leg out and just leave the right but we will have to see. Our goal now is to have them off by school starting August 6. We'll see. I will try to post a picture tomorrow. I have to get the cable for the camera. It really is a pain when the men are gone. Have a good day.

- S

Maybe I am on the Right Track

One of my constant prayers in life is that my kids will grow up to be faithful to the cause of Christ. Fairly recent extended family events have reiterated to me the importance of keeping focused on this priority. For several years now, I have been serving on the staff of Horizons: Future Church Leaders Training Camp. The program is sponsored by my alma mater, Freed-Hardeman University. While J.T. is not technically old enough to attend, he came to campus last year in the middle of the week and stayed the rest of the time with me.

As Horizons 2008 was getting closer and closer, he kept insisting that he wanted to go and spend the whole week with me this year. I finally asked him to write me a paper of why he wanted to go to Horizons. This is what I got:
I take this as a good sign. Please keep reading the family of N.

-J

Too Literal??

As my Dad is currently out of the country, this past weekend, being a holiday weekend, we made a trip to Missouri so that I could check and make sure things are alright with my mother. Friday morning, I had bought some donuts and some people in the house had already started eating. When everyone arrived, I asked J.T. if he would lead the prayer. This is essentially how the prayer went:

“Dear Lord in Heaven, thank You for this great day and thank You for letting us see G. Jo. Thank You for the food we are about to eat and for the food that some of us have already eaten. In Jesus Name, Amen.”

Don’t you just love the mind of a child?

-J

Biking Jedi

I am eight and I finally did it! I learned how to ride a bike. At the same time, I conquered a few levels on my new Star Wars video game for my Nintendo DS. After I learned how to ride my bike, my Dad and I celebrated by having a double root beer (one for him and one for me, it’s our favorite). I had an A & W and he had a Barq's. We had my Mom take a few pictures of that. It will be shown in this post. Anyway, more about my Star Wars game. My Dad bought it for me yesterday. It is really fun although the level where you defeat Darth Maul is pretty long. I have already unlocked characters like R4 and an older version of Anikin Skywalker. I have done pretty good in both things: the video game and biking. I road all the way around the church building without being asked or followed by my Dad. The best part is that I was able to start all by myself today. I also practiced a little on my scooter. Then, I played Wii Fit a little. So, you can tell I have been keeping active today. I am really glad that I did good on the video game and biking. My Dad was proud of me.

One more thing: I wanted to put a lot of pictures on here like Mercedes. I had to call Great Aunt Diana and then I had to call Mercedes. Thanks to everyone for their help and I hope you enjoy.

Enjoy these pictures and keep reading the family of N.

-JT